Detachable key holder



March l, 1955 H.` o. NlELsEN 2,702,928

v DETACHABLE KEY HOLDER Filed June l5, 1951 TIE- l FUE- E United States Patent O DETACHABLE KEY HOLDER Howard 0. Nielsen, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Snko Mfg. & Tool Co., a corporation of Illinois Application June 15, 1951, Serial No. 231,747

1 Claim. (Cl. 24-116) This invention relates to key holders, and more particularly to a detachable key chain which can be quickly detached from another chain carrying additional keys.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device which will hold a drivers license, and also has a pair of key chains, one of which may be detached by applying a slight pressure to a resilient plug.

Frequently, when leaving an automobile at agarage or parking lot, it is desirable to leave only the ignition key, while the trunk key and house key can be retained by the owner, together with a cartridge containing the drivers license. With the present invention, it is merely necessary to compress the resilient plug slightly and it may be removed with the keys on the attached chain. The plug will stay on the chain and may be reattached to the cartridge whenever desired.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is an elevational view of the device; Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectional view of the same; Fig. 3, an elarged elevational View of the resilient plug; Fig. 4, an end elevational view of the same; and Fig. 5, a sectional view, taken as indicated at line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment illustrated, all of the parts except the key chains are preferably made of a resilient plastic material such as cellulose acetate. A hollow cylindrical cartridge 6 is formed of a body-part 7 and a telescoping cap-part 8. A frictional fit is found to be satisfactory, but threads may be used, if preferred. A flanged keeper member 9 is provided in the cap 8, and has an eyelet portion 10 extending through an end aperture. An ordinary key chain 11 extends through the eyelet and may hold a group of keys, and will also prevent the keeper from sliding too far into the cartridge.

The body-part 7 has a round end aperture 12 to receive a pair of notched fingers 13 provided on a resilient plastic plug 14. Between the fingers 13 is a rounded opening 15, to receive a second key chain 16.

To detach the plug and chain from the cartridge it is merely necessary to apply finger pressure along opposite sides of the fingers 13, just outside of the cartridge 6. The plug may then be withdrawn, and it will stay attached to the chain 16 without danger of falling olf. To reassemble, it is merely necessary to force the plug into the opening 12. In use, a drivers license may be rolled up and placed within the cartridge. A group of keys which the owner desires to retain are placed on the chain 11, and the key which is to be detached is placed on the chain 16. It Will be noted that there is no danger of the plug being accidentally detached by squeezing or pressure in the pocket of the owner. To detach the plug, the pressure must be applied across the lingers 13 in rear of the end of the body 7.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

A detachable key holder, comprising: a hollow cartridge of plastic material provided with an aperture at one end, said cartridge having an inner bounding surface about the aperture extending radially from the aperture axis; and a substantially cylindrical resilient plug of plastic material divided along a part of its length to form a pair of similar fingers each provided With an arcuate notch near the base of the finger, said fingers each having an arcuate shoulder forming one side of the notch so as to lay against said surface about the aperture when the fingers are forcibly inserted through the aperture so that the notches may grasp the periphery of the cartridge aperture, the inner side of said notch and the inner radially extending surface about said aperture abutting to provide a lock against accidental removal of said plug, said body being divided outwardly beyond said shoulders so that said fingers have a length to extend outside the cartridge to provide an area for finger pressure thereagainst said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than the depth of the notch to permit the fingers to be moved together to release the plug from the cartridge, and said plug having a rounded opening between the fililigers at the base thereof for threadably receiving a key c ain.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 878,739 Newman Feb. 11, 1908 1,042,918 Houck Oct. 29, 1912 1,156,345 Burnap Oct. 12, 1915 1,266,365 Whittaker May 14, 1918 1,284,972 Anthony Nov. 19, 1918 1,368,665 Strauss Feb. 15, 1921 1,504,761 Hubbell Aug. 12, 1924 1,965,882 Cook July 10, 1934 2,051,591 Brogan Aug. 18, 1936 2,065,843 Van Uurn Dec. 29, 1936 2,112,247 McLoughlin Mar. 29, 1938 2,599,660 Poutinen June 10, 1952 

